


Easier This Way

by Ovidila



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Fake AH Crew, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-14
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-07-23 22:38:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7482654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ovidila/pseuds/Ovidila
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He looked so out of place on this battlefield, thin and small but with a gun in his hands and the taste of death on his lips.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pay Me

**Author's Note:**

> My first fic for this fandom............. Hope I don't fail spectacularly _(:3」∠)_

Explosions and the sounds of police sirens surrounded them, bodies littering the ground and blood seeped into the cracks of the mangled concrete. Shots were being fired from guns, a large fire raging in a building nearby until he was sure it was on the brink of collapse. Even with the roar of their environment, he heard the calls and shouts from his teammates to pull back-- it was becoming too dangerous for them to stay in the area any longer than they needed to.

Another regular day at the office.

“Ryan, what the fuck are you doing standing around?!” He was snapped back into reality by an angered voice in his ear ( his earpiece buzzing back to life ), turning on his heels with his gun in his grip before bounding down the street. Each step made his adrenaline rush more and more and before long, a wide grin was plastered across his face. 

A sound he could pick anywhere echoed in his ears, sending a series of shivers down his spine and he turned to see a man standing there with a gun pointed right between his eyes; aimed to not bring him down but aimed to kill. Something in his body came to an abrupt halt, locking eyes with the other man as he watched his finger begin to squeeze down on trigger. 

Bang.

One clean shot straight through… Straight through.... Ryan’s eyes widened in surprise when he felt himself unharmed and instead saw the man who had pointed his weapon at him, lying dead in a pool of his own blood with a bullet right where he had intended to shoot Ryan. 

The voices of the rest of his team flooded his ears, asking whether or not Ryan was alright and shouting to hurry up before they were pinned. He couldn’t leave. Not yet. He scanned around him quickly, eyes falling on a man in a purple hoodie standing atop a building as he packed his sniper rifle away. The man appeared to be ignoring Ryan even as he bore holes into him.

He looked young and thin from where he was standing. Young enough where he wasn’t entirely sure what he was doing someplace so dangerous with a gun and the taste of death on his breath. It was then that Ryan finally caught the boy’s eye, chuckling to himself when his savior made a peacesign in his general direction. Good to know he wasn’t going to meet the same fate as the guy lying near his feet. 

Now was his chance to run, legs carrying him quickly in the direction he had meant to go earlier until he had come to a stop at the alley where their escape cars should have been. Except there was nothing in sight if only for a few skid marks on the floor leading towards their apartment. ‘Shit…’

Even calling into his earpiece delivered him nothing but static in return. Cursing his misfortune, he ran in the direction of the dark marks on the ground until he came out of a two-way street with little to no cars passing by… All but for a tiny, pastel yellow Beetle hurdling down the road. Perhaps he could hitch a ride.

It was an easy sell, running out into the street just for the small car to come to a screeching stop only a few feet from him. Enraged, the driver played right into Ryan’s hands and stepped out of his vehicle to scream a few choice words at him, however, he didn’t have much of a chance as Ryan pressed a gun to his gut and pulled the trigger.

Stepping over the body, he searched his pocket for keys and smiled. “Thanks for the ride.” He said in a mocking tone as he stepped inside the car and pressed his foot down onto the gas. His crew were going to hear it from him when he got home. 

It couldn’t have been more than thirty minutes when he stepped inside the elevator and slammed his finger on the last number listed, doors closing quickly behind him as if they sensed his ire and refused to be apart of it. Tapping his finger against his watch, he rolled his eyes when he noticed it was damaged beyond repair. They owed him a replacement after all the shit he went through.

With an unceremonious ding, the doors opened and Ryan stalked out, fumbling in his pockets to find his key. Reaching the door, he could hear the regular chatter but something about it seemed almost strange. Forcing his key into the lock, he turned it and pushed open the door.

“So can someone explain to me how leav--” His words died on his lips as he stared at his crew all standing around a kid sitting on their couch-- it was the boy who had saved him earlier in their failed hiest. Everyone stared at him with dangerously serious stares, even Gavin appeared nervous and unlike his usual annoyingly bubbly self. “Does anyone want to talk to me about what’s happening?” 

Geoff stayed where he was, arms folded across his chest as his stare moved from Ryan to the kid in the purple hoodie. “This is Tay-- Wait no, I mean Ray.” The kid stiffened as Geoff had already misheard his name. “Sorry, kid, either I’m old or you gotta speak up.”

“Geoff…” Ryan’s voice bordered on becoming angry. “Better start explaining why he’s here.”

“Calm down. If you’d let me finish talking then maybe I could.” Everyone in the apartment was bristling but remained noticeably silent. “This kid here said he saved your life and that he wants compensation for doing it.”

Ray kept fidgeting, as if he weren’t even sure of what Geoff was saying. “Compensation? And here I thought you did it out of the kindness of your heart.” Ryan sighed, running his fingers through his hair. “What do you want?”

It was the first time Ray had truly looked at him, giving him the chance to get a better look at him. He was thin as he had thought earlier, his hoodie seeming as though it was near to swallowing him whole. Dark hair fell past his ears, hitting his dark skin right at his neck. A fire burned in his brown eyes, one he wouldn’t expect to find in someone who looked so young. 

The kid took a deep breath as he spoke. “I shot the gun who was about to do the same to you. You’d think I’d get a ‘Thanks, Ray for saving my ass’, but guess that’s too much. So how about the next best thing…” It was then that his posture changed slightly, back straightening from his laidback stance. “I want to join your crew and then I will count us even. Easy enough, yeah? Oh, and stop calling me ‘kid’, I’m literally twenty-six and pay taxes and shit.”


	2. The Making of A Killer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A look back on how Ray got started.

_“Shut it, kid.”_

That’s all he ever was to anyone-- a kid, a child, someone who couldn’t take care of himself. His skills would never be good enough, they told him. He was just wasting space, they screamed as he was pushed to the floor. It was always the same… He would never be good enough. It was taught to him like it was the fucking alphabet.

A small town gang was where he first made a name for himself, though one he would rather forget at this point. It was made up of a group of close-knit friends, people who were all hard on times and in desperate need of work. Some of them had families, some of them ( much like Ray ) were simply there to survive in a war torn town. Where it was killed or be killed-- choose a side and if you pick right, you may live to see the next sunrise.

It was a dirty street, something he had noted when he had made it his new home, but it would have to do for a while. At least that’s what he said to himself in in the summer, it was now winter and Ray was cold, hunger, and sick. Every breath he took felt like a labor, his eyes were barely open as snow fell around him, dusting his eyelashes as he shivered.

“--ey!” A voice cut through the fog of his mind, but he could barely keep himself awake let alone answer. So he didn’t “Hey! Did ya hear me or are ya just choosin’ to ignore me?” The same voice again, but this time he felt a boot press against him, pushing at him slightly. “Ya alive or what?”

All he could do was cough in response and stare at him, making sure he narrowed his eyes into a glare. The look silenced the man but before long, he began to laugh like it was the funniest thing he had ever seen. “Gotta admit, ya got some eyes on ya, but it isn’t very threatenin’ when ya look like ya died a month ago and smell just like it.”

“C-Could you shut up and leave me the hell alone?” It was all he could manage to say before he began to cough.

His words made the man raise an eyebrow curiously, nodding. “So ya can talk! Well God is good! With how ya were ignorin’ me, thought ya were one of those mutes or deaf. Ya know the ones-- the ones who just do crazy shit with their hands.”

Ray stood, albeit shakily, preparing to leave the street he had claimed just so he could leave this guy to himself. Suddenly, it felt as though he was floating and he knew he was beginning to sway on his feet. “Kid, ya alright?” He had to give the man credit, he did look genuinely concerned. Then the world became black and he felt himself hit the ground. “Kid! Ki--”

\---

Everything hurt, but surprisingly, he wasn’t cold and it made him not want to wake up, but he could feel a pair of eyes on him which forced him to open his eyes to see who it was that was watching him. It was a process to make his eyes open, disgusting fluorescent light hitting him immediately and forcing a groan from his tired body.

“You’re finally awake. ---- told me to watch you to make sure you didn’t die or anything.”

_It was strange. Looking back, he couldn't remember his name, or maybe it was simply his mind trying to stop him from remembering._

It hurt to sit up, but he needed to figure out where he was, because there was absolutely no way he was going to stay somewhere he didn’t recognize. “Where am I?”

“You certainly get to the point. You passed out a few days ago and ---- practically dragged you back here. He told me to keep you alive if I wanted to keep my dick, so here you are.”

“Okay, yeah, that’s all good, but not what I asked. _Where am I?”_

“Can’t tell you until my boss gets back.”

“Can I at least leave?”

“Nope.”

Dropping the subject with a sigh, Ray let his eyes wander around the room and he saw the man looked to be wearing scrubs and nearby was a table with a few instruments that looked rather sharp. “You a doctor or something?”

Before even answering his question, he began to rub his temples. “Do you have to ask so many questions or are you usually this nosey? But to answer your question, I am actually a nurse.” With that, his eyes did a once over on Ray.

Slipping off from the bed he was on, he nearly collapsed as he saw stars. “Woah, don’t stand so quickly or else you’ll end up on the ground.” Ray held his head in his hands as he tried to gain back his bearings, stumbling forward and then letting his hand lean on the table with all the instruments.”I hope you’re not about to puke or anything cause then I’ll have to clean up and explain.”

It was exactly like he wanted, the nurse came up to him and Ray’s hand wrapped around what he assumed was a scalpel and he thrust it into the man’s shoulder, pulling it out as the other man screamed, staggering backwards. The commotion must have attracted attention, because a door e hadn’t notice opened behind him and he quickly rushed behind the man who had taken care of him, pressing the blade against his throat.

“Take one step towards us and I swear I’ll kill him.”

Something in his head loosened as he stared at the person who had rushed in: this was the person who had supposedly brought him here after he had fainted.

“Hey, Caleb, ya aren’t dead are ya?” The man he had taken hostage must be Caleb because he quickly responded with a slow shake of his head.

The man took one step forward and then another, however, Ray was all bark and no bite, not delivering on his promise and only calling him out instead. “I already told you, I’ll kill him unless you let me leave.” It was obvious that Ray was scared, knees knocking together and the hand that held his makeshift weapon was trembling so badly he worried that he may drop it.

However, he came closer and closer to them until he was only a breath away. His hand came over the scalpel he had in his hands. “Drop it.” He wasn’t sure why, but he instantly let go and it clattered to floor. Caleb quickly rushed out of the room, cursing each step of the way.

It was silent in the room once he had left, save for the loud beating of his heart. He could not believe what he had just done, each moment of it flashed back into his mind and it only sent him into a panic. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t breathe. He tried to scream it as he gasped and wheezed, but no sounds escaped him.

His outburst didn’t even seem to phase the other man as he quickly tried to calm Ray. “Shhhh… It’s alright. Yer okay. Both Caleb and I know ya were just scared. Okay, maybe Caleb doesn’t know it since ya kinda stabbed him, but I’ll make sure he knows.”

Even though he was clearly trying to nice to him, he continued to panic and the older man understood that as he carefully came closer and put a hand on Ray’s shoulder, pulling him into a tight embrace. “Ya try to calm down and I’ll talk… I took ya cause ya were knockin’ on death’s door, and cause yer eyes they looked so alive even if ya didn’t.” He said in a near whisper.

He had been through this many times by himself, calming himself after falling into panic, but it was somehow easier when he wasn’t alone. It was a process, however, he was soon able to get a handle on his emotions and his breathing.

“How long have ya been livin’ on that corner? ‘M not so sure, but I’ve seen ya sittin’ there ‘fore. I want to give ya a job, and now that I know how much fight ya got in that little body, I hope ya'll hear me out:

I’m the boss of one of the rival gangs in this town, and I think I have a job for you.”


End file.
